Yesterday, as I was out in the back doing laundry, I smelled, not for the first time, something terrible. But it did seem to have grown even more horrific since the last time I was there.
I checked first to see if it was our washer, because let’s face it, more than once we have left clothes in there for…..a few days….and they start to get a slight bit musty. As in, requiring about three more washes to get that smell out sort of leaving in the washer. But all they did was smell normal musty, not like something was going out of its way to make everyone around it hate life and the outdoors. Then I thought maybe we had left a full bag out after one of Mina’s walks. I looked under the sink, behind the many many MANY trucks, and inside the stroller. Nothing.
So I figured, well, it was probably from the neighbor’s house and not my problem and if I ignored it it would go away. (My default response to any problem.)
But then I saw Mina throw herself on our grass, roll around and start excitedly sniffing the grass like it was the thing she’d been missing her whole life. It was a rat. A decomposing rat in our yard, hidden by the slightly overgrown grass, dead and dying in our yard like it was the perfect comfortable place to pass on, with nothing terribly clear except it’s pink rope of a tail and two sharp yellow teeth.
And then today, was well….difficult:
Dear People in My House,
Ok. It is slightly rainy and a bit voggy. But we have played trains, cuddled on beds, taken TWO walks, read books, and cleaned together. We had delicious eggs and ham and cheese for breakfast. Eliot SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT last night, which means everyone slept through the night, and has taken a nap already this morning.
Plus, it is a Friday, and family is coming tonight.
There is just no reason that I can find for the current level of despair in this household.
Thanks in advance for realizing that with me,
Dana
Then this happened.
I would like to add that this mustard bottle had a twist top, and the sticky paper on it. Never been opened.
And when I went to throw away the mustard covered paper towels, and got distracted by Lincoln for a few minutes, my curious younger boy wasted no time and I came back to this, which I must admit was partially my fault, because I lost the lid, so he didn’t need any work for that one. I had to work cleaning though.
And THEN, as if bodies in my yard and basalmic vinegar under my stove are not enough for a person, the boys both woke up from their naps crying and crying and crying and sick.
What I’m trying to say is, if someone would have taken late yesterday, including using the shovel to put the rat and all his yellow teeth in the trash for me, to today’s trying to shove paper towels far enough under the stove so that the vinegar doesn’t stink up my kitchen for the rest of the time I live here, I would have offered them three bottles of wine, an apple pie, and admiration for a lifetime.
So, my place seems to be the place to raise a stink, fall apart, make a mess and decompose. So if you’re in need of a place like that, come on over. We may not do laundry well, or check our yard often, but your mess probably won’t seem like anything compared to ours.
Suzy says
I love and miss your mess! Wish I could’ve come over to help!